Red Hill Updates: Defueling Not Pau Yet!
by Becka Garrison, Madi Owens, and Rosalie Luo, Red Hill Organizers | Reading time: 7 minutes
Defueling Update:
Gravity-based defueling of the tank mains at Red Hill, which began October 16th, was completed November 17th. This first stage (main tank defueling) accounted for about 103.5 million gallons of fuel, or 99.5% of fuel previously stored at Red Hill. The next stage of defueling (tank bottom defueling) will recommence on December 4th through the 15th, followed by the unpacking of pipelines from January 15th through 19th. These three first steps are part of Defueling Phase 5A, which focus on tanks and pipelines. Next, Defueling Phase 5B will deal with residual fuel and occur from January 22 to March 31. In this phase, Joint Task Force-Red Hill (JTF-RH) will remove about 60,000 gallons of residual fuel. Once defueling is complete, “closure” begins (termed by the Navy) and responsibilities will transition from JTF-RH to Navy Closure Task Force Red Hill (NCTF-RH). During closure, NCTF-RH will be responsible for the removal of about 4,000 gallons of residual fuel and 28,000 gallons of sludge. A small portion (about 10%) of staff from JTF-RH will transition to NCTF-RH, but the NCTF-RH will be largely composed of new employees. Please see official slides on Defueling and Closure from the FTAC Meeting here.
FTAC meeting. Photo: Becka Garrison.
FTAC:
The most recent Fuel Tank Advisory Committee (FTAC) meeting took place on Wednesday, November 15, at the Neal Blaisdell Center Pikake Room and via Zoom. While military officials continued to claim a “safe, planned, and engaged” process for defueling and closure, Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi would like to commend the public members of FTAC for their pointed questions and comments. Of particular interest was the discussion concerning the grossly inadequate quantitative research methods of Nakapuna, the company contracted by the Navy to assess potential reuse options for the Red Hill Facility. As was voiced during the FTAC’s public Q&A discussion and many neighborhood board meetings during 2023, Oʻahu residents continue to advocate for the permanent decommissioning of the entire Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility at Kapūkakī. How do you and your family define “decommission”? Let us know on our Instagram (@sierraclubhi). For more information please visit the FTAC website here.
CRI:
The second Community Representative Initiative (CRI) meeting took place on Thursday, November 16. It was held in person at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and virtually live streamed on ʻŌlelo. Red Hill (JTF-RH) Commander, U.S. Navy Vice Admiral John Wade failed to make an appearance and asked community members to watch a pre-recorded video for defueling updates. Following the Navy's “presentation,” CRI members focused their discussion around the transition from JTF-RH to the Navy Closure Task Force-Red Hill (NCTF-RH), safe drinking water, air monitoring and the relocation of fuel at the Campbell Industrial Park.
To improve the public's understanding, the CRI members urged the JTF-RH and the NCTF-RH to use consistent language, as the terms “closure” and “defueling” may lead to public confusion around mission completion. In relation to safe drinking water levels, the Navyʻs standards of safe drinking water are based on the Department of Health's Safe Drinking Water Standards. The CRI members urged the Navy and the Department of Health (DOH) to lower these levels, as no amount of jet fuel in our water is acceptable. It is disheartening that the Navy and DOH continue to refuse lowering, even in the slightest, the level of fuel deemed “safe” for water drinkers, especially with the symptoms that community members are currently experiencing at much lower levels. As highlighted at the previous FTAC meeting by community members, the Navy has failed to test hot water tanks, and utilizes rapid tests that are not EPA lab approved. During the CRI’s public Q&A, members of the community expressed their concerns in regards to the amount of water that the Navy is wasting and their concerns around the upcoming and changing “transition” phase. The CRI concluded with 101 total unanswered questions and a prospective meeting on the week of December 11th 2023.
To watch the JTF-RH defueling update video please visit Joint Task Force-Red Hill (JTF-RH) Commander Provides Detailed Defueling Update.
CWRM:
The latest Commission on Water Resource Management (CWRM) meeting took place on Tuesday, November 21, at the DLNR Boardroom and via Zoom. During this meeting, Vice Admiral John Wade and Rear Admiral Stephen Barnett repeated large chunks of what they presented at the FTAC meeting and were not required to answer public questions. While the DOD updates on Red Hill were lodged as a “non-action” item, many community members offered commentary anyway. As a result, ongoing distrust in JTF-RH and Navy operations at Kapūkakī continue to reveal public dissatisfaction with the military’s lack of transparency in both defueling and closure processes. To watch the meeting please visit 11/21/2023 Monthly Water Commission Meeting.
BWS Update:
In the days leading up to the two-year anniversary of the massive 21,000 gallons of fuel leaked at Kapūkakī in 2021, the Board of Water Supply (BWS) filed a $1.2 billion dollar claim with the Navy related to the contamination of Oʻau’s sole-source aquifer. In an effort to recover costs, the BWS is seeking compensation from the Navy for expenses incurred (and ongoing) by the Navy’s negligent stewardship of the Red Hill Facility. In response to this devastating human and environmental crisis, the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi continues to advocate that the Navy take full responsibility for the costs BWS continues to incur and not pass the buck to those who had nothing to do with the poisoning of the aquifer: everyday water drinkers who call Oʻahu home. For more information, we encourage community to view the November 27th BWS meeting here and to take a look at this quick article by HPR, Board of Water Supply wants $1.2B from Navy for recovery costs of Red Hill fuel leak.
Neighborhood Boards:
We are ecstatic to announce that the Wahiawā-Whitmore Village Neighborhood Board passed the SDRHC Resolution for Kapūkakī at their November 20th meeting! Thank you to TJ Cuaresma and the Wahiawā-Whitmore Village Neighborhood Board for your support with the resolution! There have now been 32 of 33 neighborhood boards that have adopted this resolution. We’re so close to achieving our goal of this resolution becoming the first-ever island-wide supported resolution in the history of the neighborhood board system in Oʻahu! You can help in our effort to cross the finish line with the last remaining neighborhood board (Waiʻanae Coast) by testifying in support of this resolution during the “Resident’s Concerns & Community Announcements'' portion of their next meeting–especially if you live in this district.
The next Waiʻanae Coast Neighborhood Board Meeting will be a hybrid meeting on Tuesday, January 2, 2024, 6:30pm:
Waiʻanae District Park Multi-Purpose Room
85-601 Farrington Hwy, Waiʻanae, HI 96792 and via WebEx.
Please review the January agenda for the Webex link here.
Pule No ka Wai:
The Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi would like to thank InterVarsity Hawaiʻi and Wellspring Covenant Church for holding “Pule no ka Wai” gatherings for the past several Mondays. We are happy to share their Red Hill Pule list, at bit.ly/redhillpule.
Focusing on decommissioning (no reuse), we would like to uplift prayer #6:
“Closure & Decommissioning: We pray for the full shutdown and decommissioning of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility, that fuel and other hazardous substances would never be allowed to be stored there again and that similar facilities would not be constructed in locations that would jeopardize our aquifer and ‘āina.”
Water Contamination flyer & narrative
Mahalo nui to Stephanie Chan for helping put together this double-sided flyer to alert folks about the continuing water issues with the Navy water system. We invite you to review Stephanie’s flyer alongside this heat map that shows where complaints are coming from.
Thank you!
On behalf of the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi we would like to thank each of you for your steadfastness, resilience, love, care, and solidarity as we collectively stand together in unwavering commitment to ‘āina, clean drinking water, and perhaps most importantly, one another. We wish you a wonderful December full of aloha, family, laughter, and rest. May 2024 bring many blessings to you and your ‘ohana.
With love,
Becka Garrison, Madi Owens, and Rosalie Luo